Grants and Allowances

If you’re a full-time student in higher education and an adult depends on you financially, you can apply for an Adult Dependants’ Grant of up to:

• £3,190 for the 2021 to 2022 academic year
• £3,094 for the 2020 to 2021 academic year

Eligibility

Usually, the adult dependant will be:

• your husband, wife, partner or civil partner
• a relative, such as a parent or a grandparent

If you’re under 25, the adult dependant cannot be your partner unless you’re married or in a civil partnership.

You’re not eligible if the adult dependant is:

• your child
• a relative who earns more than £3,796 a year
• getting student finance

The Adult Dependant grant will affect any income-related benefits and tax credits you receive. (See more information here - How will my government-funded benefits be affected by becoming a student)

This does not need to be paid back unless you withdraw from the programme or intermit within the semester.

Starting from the 2019/20 academic year, the Childcare Grant will no longer be paid directly to the student, but directly to the childcare provider to prevent any under/overpayments within the academic year.

The childcare provider will be paid quarterly by Student Finance depending on the start date of the programme. You would need to ensure you register with the Childcare Provider Service before they can contact you regarding the Childcare Grant.

You can get up to 85% of your childcare costs. However, any remaining childcare cost will have to be paid by the student.

For the 2021/22 academic year the maximum a student can receive is:

• up to £179.62 a week for one child, or up to 85% of their costs (whichever is less)
• up to £307.95 a week for two or more children, or up to 85% of their costs (whichever is less)

For the 2020/21 academic year the maximum a student can receive is:

• up to £174.22 a week for one child, or up to 85% of their costs (whichever is less)
• up to £298.69 a week for two or more children, or up to 85% of their costs (whichever is less)

The Childcare Grant won’t affect any income-related benefits, but students should not be recipients of the following at the same of receiving the Childcare grant:

• Childcare Element of the Working Tax Credit
• Childcare Element Universal Credit
• HMRC tax-free childcare
• NHS funded childcare grants

If you decide to apply for the Childcare Grant at a later date, please complete the form here.

If you have a disability we encourage you to get in touch during your application process so we can discuss what support we can offer you.

These grants help to pay the essential extra costs you may have as a direct result of your disability including a mental-health condition, or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia or dyspraxia.

Our Study Support Service offers information, advice and support to students with disabilities, including mental health difficulties, ongoing medical conditions and specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia.

We hold drop-in sessions for current students, where you can discuss anything with us in confidence. Our Student Welfare Officers are always on hand to support you, you can e-mail Studentwellbeing@london.northampton.ac.uk any time to arrange a meeting.

We may be able to assist you with special arrangements for your lectures and for your examinations. You may also find you're eligible for Disabled Students Allowance (DSA), which can be used for equipment and support to help you to complete your programme. Take a look at the DSA website for more information, or contact us if you'd like to talk it over. If a student requires any special equipment a contribution of up to £200 is required from the student.

A student can get up to £1,954 of General Allowance to help cover the day-to-day costs of studying.

The Parents’ Learning Allowance is additional funding to help students who are also parents. This is used for study materials, books and travel.

The maximum Parents’ Learning Allowance is:

• 2021/22 - £1,766 per academic year
• 2020/21 – £1,669 per academic year

This is usually paid together with your Maintenance Loan and any additional grants you have applied for in three instalments.

Parents who live together who are both students can both apply for Parents’ Learning Allowance for the same child.

The Parents’ Learning Allowance is only available for undergraduates.

The Postgraduate Disabled Students’ Allowance is used to help students pay the extra essential cost they might due to a disability or a long-term illness.

Postgraduate students can get a single allowance of up to £11,570 a year for the 2021 to 2022 academic year or up to £11,222 for the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

Eligibility

• Be a postgraduate student
• Have a condition affecting your ability to study
• Must qualify for Student Finance
• Must be on a programme that lasts for at least a year (full-time) or must be on a programme that’s twice as long as a full-time equivalent 9 (part-time)

As well as meeting three of the criteria above, students can also apply if they meet any of the following residency criteria:

• UK National or Irish Citizen or have a ‘settled status
• Migrant Worker from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• Child of a Swiss national and you and your present has a settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Status
• Child of a Turkish worker who has permission to stay in the UK – you and your Turkish worker parent must have been living in the UK by 31 December 2020

This allowance does not need to be paid back unless you leave the programme early. If a student previously had a DSA allowance for any special equipment from a previous programme, this will be considered.

You’re not eligible if the postgraduate disabled student allowance if you’re:

• An EU student
• Eligible for an NHS Disabled Students’ Allowance (separate scheme)
• Getting equivalent support from another funding source, such as a social work bursary.

The amount you can get through the Special Support Grant is the same as what’s available through the Maintenance Grant. It doesn’t affect your Maintenance Loan and doesn’t have to be paid back.

If you started your programme between 1^st September 2012 and 31^st July 2016, the full grant available is:

2021/22 - £3,919 for the academic year

2020/21 - £3,081 for the academic year

You could be eligible for a Special Support Grant if you:

• Are a lone parent (single)
• Have a partner who is also a student and one or both of you are responsible for a child or young person under 20 who is in full-time education below higher education level
• Have a disability and qualify for the Disability Premium or Severe Disability Premium
• Are deaf and qualify for Disabled Students’ Allowances
• Have been treated as incapable of work for at least 28 weeks
• Have a disability and qualify for income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Are from outside the UK and are entitled to an Income Support Urgent Cases Payment because you’re temporarily without any money for up to six weeks
• Are waiting to go back to a programme after the agreed time out due to an illness or caring responsibility that has now ended
• Are aged 60 or older
• Are studying at undergraduate level

The Special Support Grant doesn’t need to be counted as income when you work out your entitlement to income-related benefits or tax credits.